Crime Inc.: Redistribution of wealth

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All the President’s Men

What do the players behind Crime, Inc have to say about the redistribution of wealth…

Andy Stern

Former president of SEIU

On redistributing the wealth: "Clearly government has a major opportunity to distribute wealth… through tax policies, minimum wages, living wages, the government has a role in distributing wealth for social benefits… There are opportunities in America to share better in the wealth, to rebalance the power. And unions and government are part of the solution. But we need big answers not small ones." | Watch the clip

"There are opportunities in America to share better in the wealth, to rebalance the power. And unions and government are part of the solution." | Watch the clip

Cass Sunstein

Administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

On redistributing the wealth: "Redistribution from the United States to poor people in poor nations would be highly desirable, but expenditures on greenhouse gas reductions are a crude means of producing that redistribution. It would be much better to give cash payments directly to people who are now poor."

"We agree, however, that if the United States does spend a great deal on emissions reductions as part of an international agreement, and if the agreement does give particular help to disadvantaged people, considerations of distributive justice support its action even if better redistributive mechanisms are imaginable."

Van Jones

Environmental advocate

On gray capitalism: "Inside that minimum demand was a very radical kernel that eventually meant that from 1954 to 1968 complete revolution was on the table for this country. And, I think that this green movement has to pursue those same steps and stages. Right now we say we want to move from suicidal gray capitalism to something eco-capitalism where at least we’re not fast-tracking the destruction of the whole planet. Will that be enough? No, it won’t be enough. We want to go beyond systems of exploitation and oppression altogether, but that’s a process." | Watch the clip

Maurice Strong

Former director, U.N. Environmental Program

On a collapsed economy: "Paradoxically, the way to remove the threat of climate change is for the economy to continue to degenerate, because as the economy degenerates of course there are fewer emissions, and that’s actually happening. But to use that as a pretext for saying, ‘well, now we don’t have to worry about it.’ The cost to our economy would be — would we really want to do that? I want to see climate change corrected. In fact, I believe very strongly in it, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of a collapsed economy, but a collapsed economy would certainly produce that effect."

On population growth: "Licenses to have babies, incidentally, is something that I got in trouble for some years ago for suggesting, even in Canada, that this might be necessary at some point." | Watch the clip

Al Gore

Former vice president and environmental activist

On global government: "But it is the awareness itself that will drive the change, and one of the ways it will drive the change is through global government and global agreements." | Watch the clip

Joel Rogers

Law professor at the University of Wisconsin—Madison

On population growth: "Every kid should be fed, clothed, housed, decently fed and insured. Eventually they’ll grow up and then vote for national health insurance and minimally we deserve that in this country."

On redistribution of wealth: "I think ultimately, the rate of growth of material consumption is going to have to come down and there’s going to have to be a degree of redistribution of how much we consume in terms of energy and material resources in order to leave room for people who are poor to become more prosperous."

John Holden

White House director of Science and Technology Policy

On population control: "Of course, a government might require only implantation of the contraceptive capsule, leaving its removal to the individual’s discretion but requiring re-implantation after childbirth. Since having a child would require positive action (removal of the capsule), many more births would be prevented than in the reverse situation."

On redistributing wealth: "I think ultimately, the rate of growth of material consumption is going to have to come down and there’s going to have to be a degree of redistribution of how much we consume in terms of energy and material resources in order to leave room for people who are poor to become more prosperous." | Watch the clip

CRIME INC. BIOS

Emerald Cities Collaborative

The Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) describes itself as a “start-up, national coalition of diverse groups that includes unions, labor groups, community organizations, social justice advocates, development intermediaries, research and technical assistance providers, socially responsible businesses, and elected officials.” The group’s goal is to make metropolitan areas green. Members sitting on the board of directors include representatives from Green for All (Van Jones co-founded), SEIU, AFL-CIO, Goldman Sachs and Enterprise Community Partners.

Al Gore

Al Gore’s main claim to fame is his role in our nation’s history, as Vice President of United States. Prior to his role in the White House, Gore served eight years in the US House of Representatives, and two terms as a U.S. Senator. In more recent times his environmental activism has made him a proponent of spreading the green way of life. His movie, An Inconvenient Truth, warned people of the serious dangers of global warming, climate change and the future of our Earth. Critics have noted several significant errors in his movie ranging from, the drowning of polar bears to the melting of snow on Kilimanjaro and drying of Lake Chad. As the Chairman of the Board for the Alliance for Climate Protection, his lifestyle is not always representative of a greener good. Under speculation for years, he’s been given the nickname “carbon billionaire” for making money off his preaching of carbon emissions into the environment. Gore is also the co-founder of the private investment firm, Generation Investment Management. He holds an undergraduate degree in government from Harvard University .

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is a publicly held global investment banking and securities firm. Unlike a traditional bank, Goldman connects investors and money to the businesses and governments in need of it. In 2006, Goldman Sachs purchased a 10% stake in Climate Exchange, PLC.

The Joyce Foundation

A private U.S. foundation which provides funding and support to initiatives focusing on education, environment, and employment in the Great Lakes region. The Joyce Foundation was established in 1948 by Beatrice Joyce Kean of Chicago. Since its inception the Foundation has made grants of more than $600 million. Some of those grants include $1.1 million to Richard Sandor in 2000-2001 to create the Chicago Climate Exchange; $175,000 in 2008 to the Tides Center for the Apollo Alliance; and $200,000 in 2009 to Enterprise Community Partners to launch the Emerald Cities Collaborative.

Former Board of Directors’ members include President Barack Obama (1994-2002) and Valerie Jarrett (2003-

President Barack Obama

Barack H. Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. Before becoming President, he served four short years in the U.S. Senate. He cut his political teeth as an Illinois State Senator from 1997-2004. Active in the Chicago community, he served on the board of the progressive Joyce Foundation from 1994-2002. The future President was the first African American editor of the Harvard Law Review and received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1983. The son of black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, he was mainly raised by his grandmother in Hawaii. His father wrote of socialist policies as an economist for the Kenyan government, while his mother identified with Marxism.

Richard Sandor

Richard Sandor is the Chairman and founder of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the only voluntary trading system of greenhouse gases in North America. He also serves as Chariman of the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE) and Executive Chairman of Climate Exchange, PLC.

Sandor is also a research professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University where he teaches environmental finance. He’s the former Chairman of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Clean Air Committee and vice president and chief economist of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).

Chicago Climate Exchange

A U.S. corporation, the CCX is the only trading system for greenhouse gases in North America. The idea of Chairman & CEO Richard Sandor, CCX was created through $1.1 million in grants from the Joyce Foundation. It’s trading officially launched in 2003. Since then, the CCX has grown to include 300 members worldwide. CCX, along with the European Climate Exchange (ECX) and the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFX) were operated by Climate Exchange, PLC until April 2010 when the company was sold to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) for $606 million.

Climate Exchange, PLC

Climate Exchange (CLE) is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange. Its three core businesses are the European Climate Exchange (ECX), Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFX). The company is also developing in China, Canada and Australia. CLE was sold to InterContinental Exchange (ICE) in April 2010 for $606 million. ICE previously held a 4.79% stake in CLE.

InterContinental Exchange

InterContinental Echange (ICE) is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Based in Atlanta, ICE operates trading platforms and clearing houses globally for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions and energy markets. Established in 2000, the company’s goal was to “transform OTC energy markets by providing an open, accessible, around-the-clock electronic energy marketplace to a previously fragmented and opaque market.”

Generation Investment Management (GIM)

Generation is a privately owned investment company with offices in London and New York. The company invests in global, public entities with an emphasis on climate. The firm was co-founded in 2004 by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and David Blood, former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. GIM had a 2.98% stake in Climate Exchange, PLC, which operated the Chicago Climate Exchange. InterContinental Exchange (ICE) purchased Climate Exchange, PLC in April 2010 for $606 million.

David Blood

Along with Gore, David Blood co-founded Generation Investment Management and acts as the firm’s Senior Partner. Blood is the former co-CEO and CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. After growing up in Brazil, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Franklin Raines

The disgraced former Fannie Mae CEO resigned in 2004 amid a SEC investigation into the company’s accounting practices. Raines inflated earnings, costing the company about $9 billion. Despite his actions, he walked away making close to $90 million in pay and stock during his 5 years at the company. A year after his resignation, a U.S. patent was approved for a “System and method for residential emissions trading.” Both Raines and Fannie Mae were named on the patent. Raines currently sits on the board of trustees of Enterprise Community Partners. He formerly served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1996-1998 during the Clinton Administration.

Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae is a government sponsored company that was created by Congress in 1983. It works with mortgage brokers to create “affordable” mortgages for home owners. Since 2008, Fannie Mae has received $137 billion in federal aid. The Treasury Department has agreed to fund Fannie Mae through 2012. Its brother company is Freddie Mac.

Enterprise Community Partners

Enterprise is a private company dedicated to helping individuals and families find affordable homes. Enterprise claims to have the first national green building program specializing in affordable housing. The Enterprise Green Communities’ goal is “to fundamentally transform the way we think about, design and build affordable homes” by providing funding and technical assistance to developers to create low-income housing which is environmentally friendly. It’s also an advocate for federal policy on affordable housing and community development.

Emerald Cities Collaborative

The Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) describes itself as a “start-up, national coalition of diverse groups that includes unions, labor groups, community organizations, social justice advocates, development intermediaries, research and technical assistance providers, socially responsible businesses, and elected officials.” The group’s goal is to make metropolitan areas green.

Joel Rogers

Joel Rogers is the man behind the curtain. Well known throughout the world of political activism, he’s practically a stranger to the public . His main causes revolve around the redistribution of wealth through a green society. The University of Wisconsin professor is the creator of the Apollo Alliance, dedicated to the promotion of clean energy and the creation of green-collared jobs. Championed by John Sweeney, Andy Stern and Van Jones, Rogers also serves on the board of Emerald Cities Collaborative and acts as the director of COWS. Additionally, he’s a senior policy adviser to Green for All, a group under the wing of Van Jones. Rogers co-founded the now defunct New Party, a progressive political party started in the early 1990s which was sympathetic to the advancement of labor unions. The party dissolved in 1997 and was reinvented a year later as the Working Families Party. Rogers’ wife, Sarah Siskind, a partner at the law firm Miner, Barnhill and Galland, defended Acorn in 2002.

Apollo Alliance

Inspired by the Apollo space program, the alliance is made up of business and community leaders looking to “catalyze a clean energy revolution.” The Alliance created the “New Apollo Program,” an economic plan of its priorities including a “cap and invest” program to reduce carbon emissions. The Program claims it will generate and invest $500 billion into the economy over the span of ten years. The Alliance released its program to coincide with the Obama Administration’s call for a stimulus plan. Because of this, the Alliance is said to have strongly shaped the $787 billion Stimulus Plan in 2009. The Apollo Alliance is a project of George Soros’ non-profit Tides Center.

Green for All

Green for All is a national organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty through a green economy. It works alongside government, grassroots and labor organizations to increase job opportunities in green industry. Green for All was co-founded by former White House Environmental Adviser Van Jones.